The Line
by Jynxiii
Summary: What happens if your Soulmate is really evil? If the universe picked someone so wrong for you, that you just can't be with them? R&R OCxOC


**RS revision really gives me some morbid ideas... **

**I don't own Night World.**

**The Line**

The most annoying thing in the world is waking up to a ringing phone. Being a vampire hunter, I probably didn't have much choice about when I was on duty, but an unbroken night seldom happens for me.

I stumbled across the floor to the dim red light emitted by the ringing contraption and picked it up blearily, shaking my head to wake myself up.

"Yes?"

"Isla?"

Thierry. Of course. At some point, I was going to throw him off a cliff. His voice snapped me completely awake and I started pulling on a pair of jeans, ready to leave at a second's notice.

"I'm really sorry about this, Isla..."

"It's my _job_, Thierry. I chose it."

"Not this. It's... it's Ludo."

And just hearing that name was enough to plunge me into my memories.

It surprised a lot of people to hear that I had a Soulmate, that I had been in love. Perhaps if they knew Ludo, they might understand why I was so pessimistic about relationships.

On the outside, he's really quite lovely. Dark gold hair which had a slightly unruly wave to it, piercing green eyes, and tanned from being in the sun all the time... but, of course, was hiding a secret. Humans didn't learn about the Night World by default.

There was one moment, from the very beginning of our tenuous relationship, which I remembered particularly. At that point, I'd found out about the Night World, but not of Ludo's true nature. I knew now, that even when soul-sharing, one party could hide something from the other, and that Ludo was hiding something from me. I hadn't even realised that he was _hiding_ something, let alone what it was.

As always, the thought that I should have known, should have _guessed_ that he wasn't exactly what he seemed plagued me with an unquenchable guilt. I pushed it forcibly from my mind.

"Isla? Are you still there?"

I pinched my leg. Lapses of concentration were very bad for any vampire hunter's health.

"Yes, of course. What about him?" I kept my voice carefully cool and detached. Working with Circle Daybreak meant some big sacrifices. I had to be prepared to do anything.

"Just... come over. I'll explain everything."

I hung up the phone and made my way towards the door.

It took a good two hours to get to Las Vegas, and then another half-hour manoeuvring the still-bustling strip to Thierry's mansion. The guard-werewolves waved me through the driveway.

Ludo had seemed like a good person – well, as good as a vampire could be – but I'd trusted and believed him when he said he wouldn't hurt me in any way. I'd been young, only fifteen, when I'd fallen in love with him, and it clouded my judgement on life. When I was younger, I'd been trusting and helpful. Or maybe just naïve and gullible. I thought that love would win everything and that everyone was genuinely good.

I was distracted, yet again, and almost didn't notice when Thierry stepped in my path. I slammed on the brakes, holding up a hand apologetically, and stepped out of the car.

"I'm sorry, Thierry–"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted. "Come with me."

He led me into the smallest living room in his mansion and gestured to a sofa. I sat down obediently.

"Thierry, don't–" I tensed as a figure came hurtling into the room. She came to a graceful stop and glared at him when she saw that I was there.

"Jez," I said politely. She was the only Wild Power who stayed at the mansion, and that was only because she blackmailed Thierry into letting her.

"Hi," she said to me, before turning back to Thierry. "You can't be that cruel. It's not fair to her!"

"How do you know about this?"

"I overheard you." She stepped into Thierry's space and stared him down. The only person in the world brave enough to do that.

He turned away from her to face me. "It's her decision," he said, still talking to Jez. "She has the choice. Isla... Ludo has been getting more and more dangerous."

I kept quiet. This I knew.

"You're the only one who can get through to him, and if not..." his eyes were apologetic at this point, "the only one who can kill him."

I stopped breathing.

"_Ludo?" I asked._

_He turned to me, smiling. "Yes?"_

_I took a deep breath. This was it, the moment I'd been waiting for these two entire, glorious months. "I love you," I said._

_His eyes seemed to harden slightly, but the next minute he was holding me. I must have imagined it. "I know. I love you too," his voice was firm, yet somehow still loving and gentle. He kissed my neck and pulled me tighter, closer, yet still not tight and close enough._

"This is madness, Thierry. You can't expect her to work against her Soulmate!"

Jez's shout of anger pulled me from my memory, and I could feel blood pooling into my cheeks. I blessed my ancestors that no-one could tell easily due to my dark skin.

"You worked against your Soulmate!"

"That was _different_. I didn't know. _She _knows, and loves him!"

"I don't any more."

The firmness and almost icy tone to my voice surprised even me.

"Isla, you don't have to do this."

"She's right. You don't," Thierry joined in. "But you're the only one who can, I think."

"I can go. With Morgead."

"No!" I stepped in and got in between them. "Jez, you're the _Wild Power_. And a known one, at that. We can't let you go. And we can't risk Morgead being captured. They can use him to get you on their side." I turned to Thierry. "I'll do it. I can kill him," I vowed.

-nw-nw-nw-

I crouched in the dank, dusty house, ignoring the moaning behind me, and the gnawing in my stomach. Studying the floor, I determined that someone had passed over here not long ago. I straightened up swiftly, darting a quick glance to either side.

"Please, help me..."

I turned and braced myself against what I knew was there. Ludo, or one of his 'accomplices' had been quicker than me, and this was shown by the three teenagers lying behind me. All three with their throats cut open. One had his arm hanging by only the bicep, and the other had his stomach torn to shreds. I forced back the bile that came up in the back of my throat at a pile of his guts lying in a pile next to him.

And yet, those two were the lucky ones. They had died, probably quickly. The boy lying, begging me, no more than fifteen, had his leg almost chewed off, probably by werewolves, and a piece of his cheek had been gouged out, as well as one of his eyes, but he was still alive.

And Ludo had done this. This was _his_ doing.

I moved closer to the boy. "I'm sorry," I whispered, before driving a dagger into his temple. He gave one last cry before dying, right in front of me.

I clenched my teeth together and squared my shoulders. I should have realised it earlier. I should have been here to stop Ludo.

'_Isla...'_

I tensed at the sound of his voice and stood up quickly, spinning around to try to locate him. This was it. _This was it_. Payback. Retribution. I would be able to protect anyone else he wanted to harm.

'_Isla...'_

My breath came in quick gasps as I saw a shadow pass along a wall, then disappear. I stepped forwards towards it, holding up the knife ready to throw.

'_As if you would harm me.'_

The whisper was quieter than the wind, and the silence after was like a smothering blanket as I held my breath.

A quick touch on my shoulder, and I span round to come face-to-face with... nothing.

I let my breath escape me in a huff and backed out of the door, shooting glances over my shoulder. My imagination. Just my imagination.

"_Where have you been?"_

_My voice was carefully blasé. I was actually quite pleased with it. No-one would know the gut-wrenching fear and heart-wrenching betrayal I felt._

"_You don't need to know everything, okay?" he said suddenly. His eyes burned with passion, but not the kind I wanted from him. _Anger_. I stopped breathing and felt my eyes widen._

_And his eyes immediately closed off. "I'm sorry," he said blankly. My stomach twisted again. There he was, cutting me out. Always distancing himself from me._

"_You know," I said carefully, stepping forward one. "I can help. Even if you just want someone to talk to."_

_His eyes were still distant, but he nodded. "Thank you, Isla," he said._

The sun was just starting to inch over the horizon, and I slipped the knife into its sheath on my hip. I took up a gentle lope which had me effortlessly covering ground.

The fact that I was a human was always a hindrance. I had to rest and catch my breath every hour or so, whilst Ludo could just keep on going. And there was no point taking a truck or car, as he would often cut through forests and mountain ranges.

It had been about two months since Thierry had asked me to find him. I had stayed quite close on his heels at some points, but sometimes he was just toying with me to make me think that I had a chance. And he'd already killed two young families, and three other groups of teenagers. Every day, he was getting closer to killing another group, and always painfully, at that.

The mobile phone that Thierry had forced me to bring beeped, and I stopped running to rummage in my pocket.

"Hello?" I really hated phones.

"Isla, about Ludo," Of course it was Thierry. I looked up at the now bright-blue sky. "Don't kill him. We'll have to... interrogate him." His voice was apologetic.

I bit my tongue. Circle Daybreak, I'd learnt, was not all about peace between the races. Apparently they tortured powerful Night People to get information. Quite regularly, too.

"Okay," I said, having to work hard to get any volume.

When he hung up, I aimed towards a large rock and sat in the shade, watching the wind play in the grass. Ludo was going to be tortured. How did I feel about that? He _deserved_ it, certainly, but that didn't mean I wanted it to happen to him. Maybe what he'd pretended to be with me had changed him. Maybe he wasn't all bad.

I felt guilty just thinking that, and pushed it forcefully out of my mind.

_There was a strange scent in the air, and I paused uncertainly. I fisted my hands over the keys so they wouldn't make any noise and stepped forwards, but the wood creaked._

_Dammit. I froze, but when nothing seemed any different, I continued stepping slowly forward. When I came to the door I pushed it open with my foot._

_It was a barbaric scene. A man lay on the floor with his throat ripped open, his eyes still glassy and wide with a fear that didn't abate even in death, his mouth slightly agape in a grimace. Some blood was splattered up the wall._

_I started hyperventilating, unable to tear my eyes away from the man._

"_Isla!"_

_I just about caught the scream that tried to rip through my throat when I saw Ludo. He had a cut on his arm and across his face. Some blood was on his shirt._

"_It's alright," he said earnestly. "He attacked me, I fought him off. I had to kill him or he would have gotten more people here to kill us both."_

_He'd never looked so earnest and sincere in all the time that I'd known him, and when he stepped closer and held out his arms I collapsed into them and buried my face in his shoulder, fighting to get away from the image._

_He led me upstairs and lay me on the bed before going downstairs, presumably to dispose of the body._

It was night-time before I started moving again. The moon was bright enough that I could see perfectly well, and before long I took up the lope again.

And then, with a suddenness that alarmed me, I came upon a campsite.

This was rare. No-one ever came here. After studying the mound in the sleeping bag, my eyes widened, and I stopped my breathing instantly.

Ludo. It was Ludo. No more than ten meters in front of me!

I backed away about fifty meters, silently treading on the grass, and slipped out the phone, sending a text that I'd pre-saved –_ when the golden day is done, through the closing portal, child and garden, flower and sun, vanish all things mortal _– the signal that I'd found Ludo. Circle Daybreak would send their top warriors in ten minutes, and they'd be here in about thirty.

I stayed watching Ludo. Even in his sleep, he was introverted. His skin seemed too pale under the moonlight, and instead of seeming more innocent and childlike when asleep, he seemed dangerous.

And then his eyes opened, reflecting the moon's light. His eyes caught with mine for a second.

"Isla," he said softly. He sat up and watched me. My hand inched towards the sheath on my hip. I would have to fight him. This was it.

"Ludo," I said politely, holding my body still.

"I knew you would come."

I stepped forward, closer in case he made a run for it. He didn't move until I was five meters away, and at that point he stood up gracefully.

"You look good," he said softly.

I surreptitiously looked down, stealing a glance at my watch. Twelve minutes had passed. Eighteen to go.

He was smiling easily as I looked up. His eyes were crafty.

I resisted the impulse to thrust the knife through his neck and instead just bit my lip.

"Don't say that, Ludo."

"It's the truth."

I bit back the retort that was already forming itself in my mind and instead stayed still. All I needed was to play this just right for the next fifteen minutes, and I could escape with my life – and body – intact.

So I ducked my head again and looked up at him through my eyelashes with a despairing look, and made as if I was going to step forwards before checking myself. I took a deep breath and let it hitch through my throat.

His eyes were still blank, though there was still a small spark in them, of victory. He stepped forwards instead. We were now less that a foot away from each other.

I forced myself to lean forwards minutely, though I knew his keen vampire eyes would notice. His eyes flicked down my body. "I've missed you," he whispered, and he reached out a hand to touch my cheek.

The electric spark between us made the air quiver between our bodies, and I automatically stepped out of his range.

Time to show exactly why I always got the main parts in plays when I was at school.

"You know we can't," I said, refusing to meet his eyes. "I..."

I forced myself to look up at him and halted my breathing. His eyes widened as he looked at me, and we were caught in a moment when he was just staring at me, and I was plotting my next move.

"Carry on," he said, stepping forwards and reaching for my cheek again. I let him this time, and forced myself to ignore the sparks that flew from his skin to mine, whilst looking like I was intoxicated by them.

I took the opportunity to duck my head down again and surreptitiously steal a glance at my watch. Ten minutes.

And his hand was suddenly under my chin and forcing me to look at him.

Oh, darn it. I was going to have to take it further.

I leaned forwards a couple of centimetres before checking myself and starting to lean back, but he caught the moment anyway, bringing me closer and kissing me.

It was getting harder and harder to ignore the effect he was having on me. It was obvious that there was an attraction between us; we were Soulmates, and I had to keep fixed images in my mind. The teenage boy who had been attacked only yesterday, and had lain on the ground begging me to help him. The families he had attacked, or ordered his accomplices to attack, the mothers' screams as their children were snatched from them. My family–

My body took over and I jerked away from him. He watched me with wide eyes, and I once again ducked my head.

Four minutes.

"Isla?"

Damage control now.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It's just... that it's difficult. How will we... deal with this?" I gestured between the two of us.

"We're Soulmates, Isla. I don't think anything can change that."

I made my voice a bit more hysterical. And he was falling for it. "How will we _tell_ people?"

He touched my cheek again. "It's happened before. We'll be fine." He pressed his lips to mine again, quickly.

And I could see in his eyes that he thought he was fooling me. I realised at that point that he didn't know me very well. My stomach twisted with a deep hatred for him.

Or maybe it was because of his eyes. Those piercing green eyes that I always saw anyway. He really was quite beautiful.

There was suddenly a loud crash, and Ludo was wrenched away from me. One of the warriors, Rashel, tied up his hands as he started thrashing and fighting to get away. "Run, Isla!"

Strange. He actually sounded sincere. I dropped the act and fixed him with a cold stare before standing back and straightening my top.

He stopped struggling and gazed at me. "You tricked me?"

I kept my eyes level, not betraying any of the emotion I felt at seeing him tied up. It was stupid, pathetic emotion anyway. "And you believed me? I'm surprised it was so easy."

"Do you want a lift back to Las Vegas?" One of the warriors asked.

"Thank you," I said, turning and walking away. No more looking back.

_3 months later_

"So you just tricked him?"

Jez seemed to be in a slight state of shock.

"Yes," I answered.

We were walking around Thierry's immense garden at this point. The sun was just dipping below the horizon, but it was still well above twenty degrees. We stopped under the spread of a tree and sat down on the bench.

"And you weren't tempted at all?"

"What do you mean?"

"To _tell_ him that people were coming from him. Or to run away with him or something."

"He was trying to trick me at the same time as I was trying to trick him. It really wasn't difficult to hand him over."

She watched me carefully. "So... what did he do? To make you hate him so," her voice was gently probing.

I looked away and frowned to myself. "Do you mind if I keep that to myself for a little longer? It... wasn't an easy time for me."

"I can imagine," she said, but her voice was still curious.

"The good thing is... I don't love him. Just because you are Soulmates with someone, doesn't mean you have to be with them. It worked for you and Morgead, but it just won't ever work for me." I gave a humourless laugh. "Which means I'll probably never find anyone."

"No, you will," Jez reassured me. "I understand completely. Having a Soulmate doesn't work for everyone. You probably just need a little more distance. Sometimes it is uncomfortable. Having someone so... close. And never really being alone."

"That makes sense."

I shifted uncomfortably as a sharp pain edged up to the middle of my chest. I pressed my hand against where the pain was, expecting maybe to find some blood, but there was nothing. A gasp escaped from me as it happened again, only to the left, over my heart.

"Isla? Are you alright?"

I noticed at this point that I had slid down and was kneeling on the floor, my head down. My breathing edged up, until it was coming in short gasps, and this only seemed to make the pain worse.

"_Give me an answer!"_

I jumped as the voice blasted through my mind and edged away from Jez as much as I could, but even as I did, I could tell it wasn't her. It was male, to begin with. But she didn't seem to have heard it. She was still kneeling next to me, trying to catch my attention.

"_You know you're expendable, right?"_

_The man leaned over menacingly, but there was no answer._

"_Give... me... an... _answer_."_

And this time, the pain in my chest was blinding. A feeling that my heart was being ripped out and my lungs were being turned inside out. I couldn't breathe, and a pressure was building up in my head.

_I recognised the scent now._

_Blood._

_I made absolutely no noise as I crossed the hall to the sitting room. My hand reached to touch the handle of the blade that Ludo had given me a couple of days before. _"This will stop the heart of any vampire,"_ he'd said, with that disconcertingly cocky smile of his. _

_I took small steps to the door, this time dodging the creaking board, and pushed it open with my hand._

_A reel back from the image that would forever remain burned into my mind. A gasp, which turned his attention to me. A _pain_. Unrelenting and all-consuming, rendering me unable to speak._

_For Ludo was kneeling above my little sister, his face in her neck. And when he lifted his head, his chin was stained with her blood. Her eyes were blank, glassy, unseeing. Widening the search, my mother. My father. Piled up like bodies in the Holocaust, blood staining their collars._

_People had always said there was a thin line between love and hate, but no-one had said that you could pass from love to hate in such a short, intense burst._

"Isla!"

I gasped as the darkness abated. "What... _was_ that?"

"I don't know, but... you were talking about your family. Shouting, actually," her eyes were careful as she said this. I supposed she had found out exactly what had happened. "Are you feeling alright?"

I considered. The pain was completely gone; not even a shadow of it seemed to remain. I felt light, and almost... euphoric. But the most overwhelming feeling was one of complete freedom.

"He's dead," I heard myself say.

And it felt right. He was dead. Ludo was dead.

Jez pressed a hand against her mouth. "Oh, goddess. I'm so–"

"Don't say you're sorry," I interrupted. I pushed my hair back with a stray hand, surprised to see that it was shaking.

Jez opened her mouth and watched me questioningly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes..."

And finally, I felt free.

**Well, there you go. What happens if a Soulmate isn't right for you. Don't forget to review and give me feedback!**


End file.
